Throughout history the horse has been a popular subject in Asian art. Often a symbol of strength, power and speed the equine was highly regarded and used to represent the progression and achievements of society. For Korean artist Sung Tae Park, the horse not only symbolizes this advancement, but his horses in particular embody a new kind of creative innovation.

To read more about Sung Tae Park and to suscribe to our magazine please visit,

Blue Springs, MO — November 17th, 2011— Calling all Artists… 12 years and under! This holiday season Durvet will be holding their first annual Holiday Coloring Contest for Kids! We are asking kids ages 1 through 12 to color the Holiday Coloring Page provided on our website. The grand prize winner will receive a Durvet Gift Basket and the two finalists will receive an Aloe Advantage Grooming Pack.

The contest will run from November 17th, 2011 through January 9th, 2012

Durvet must receive all entries by January 9th, 2012 to be eligible for judging. All entries will be posted on Duvet’s Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/Durvet

The winner and finalists will be announced January 16th, 2012.

For more information and contest rules and to download the contest coloring page, please go online to:

Coco Chanel said of her childhood: “The only happy times were those I spent on horseback. I didn’t know people: I knew horses.” Her signature style incorporated jodhpurs and riding jackets into everyday sports wear and for more that a century, fashion has been the better for its equestrian influences.

Through November 12, the Fashion Institue of Technology’s The Museum at FIT on Seventh Avenue at 27th Street in New York City is presenting “Sporting Life”, a celebration of modern sports garments, including riding clothes presented by Devon-Aire. The Museum at FIT is a non-profit collection with a focus on education and its both a resource to FIT students and open to the public free of charge.

Here you can find the last four issues of Horses In Art in a bundle pack at a discounted price. This pack includes Fall 2010, Winter 2010, Spring 2011 and Summer 2011 for only $18.95!! This is a huge deal….to find out more or to order now visit,

Known for a strong work ethic, a sense of moral responsibility and the ability to navigate vast and treacherous terrain, cowboys are often revered in popular culture. As one with their horse, the all-American hero leads a life of solitude traversing the land and helping those in need. Buck Brannaman is a modern day cowboy who has found his way through a troubled past, who now devotes his life to understanding horses and sharing what he has learned with others. On the road nine months out of the year, Buck travels the country giving instructional clinics to horse owners eager to improve communication with their animals. Although the information and techniques offered in his training are invaluable to many horse people, the life lessons he teaches are inspirations for us all.

To read more about Buck or to see any of the other articles from Horses In Art, please visit us at…

Walnut,
California —
Lukas, the World’s Smartest Horse (according to the World Records
Academy) and Guinness World Record Holder (“Most numbers correctly
identified by a horse in one minute: 19”), has joined an elite group: those with
the capacity for self-awareness. He has proven that he is able to recognize his
own reflection in a mirror as an image of himself. To date, only humans (after
the age of eighteen months), great apes, bottlenose dolphins, orcas, elephants
and European magpies have successfully passed this test.

For
this experiment, Karen Murdock, Lukas’ owner/trainer, utilized the mirror test,
developed by Gordon Gallup in 1970 (based on observations by Charles Darwin). It
determines whether an animal can recognize its own reflection in a mirror as an
image of itself. Lukas’ four by six foot Plexiglas mirror, two inch round
stickers and the following steps were used:

–
Covertly
marking Lukas with two odorless spots: the test spot was on a part of Lukas
which was visible in front of a mirror, and the control spot which was placed on
an accessible but hidden part of his body (to rule out tactile involvement).

–
Videotaped
recordings documented whether Lukas reacted in a manner consistent with his
being aware that the test spot was located on his own body, rather than on the
mirror, while ignoring the control spot.

–
Indications
of awareness included: turning and moving his body so he could better view the
marking in the mirror, or poking at the marking on his body with his muzzle
while viewing the mirror.

–
If
Lukas didn’t recognize his image, Murdock would have attempted to teach this to
him. No prior access to mirrors and not having the necessary previous
experiences to use them could possibly have been a factor in the event of Lukas’
non self-recognition.

According
to most animal intelligence ranking scales, equine statistics are dismal: horses
rank anywhere from fifth to ninth in intelligence comparisons between species.
In addition, the horse population in general is thought to be a typically
reactive group at the mercy of flight instincts and walnut-sized brains. Murdock
believes that the commonly used repetitive machine trials to assess horses’
learning capabilities are missing some important components: a social and
interactive element, intermediary voice prompts and reinforcement variations.
Furthermore, she proposes that the prevailing methods of force training are
inadequate and even counter-productive. In contrast, Lukas’ lessons resemble
those used for children: enjoyable, gentle and a mutual exploration into
possibilities. A rather unscientific, yet significant supportive substantiation
of Lukas’ self-awareness abilities includes the fact that he is completely
intolerant of any horse near “his girl,” yet, in the test, he gave no indication
that he believed his reflection to be an interloper.

The
most difficult aspect of the test according to Murdock involved Lukas remaining
immobile when the test spot was absent: “He always wants to do something to
please me,” says Murdock, “and he’s used to trying out different behaviors to
get my attention.” As always, Murdock, a psychiatric nurse for the last
twenty-six years, and an animal trainer for over forty years, used her own
particular blend of techniques. Sessions with her dear friend were brief, fun
and tender and included the following guidance: “That’s you in the mirror,
Lukas. You’re a horse. I love you.”